Aug 1 (Reuters) - The discount on Western Canada Select

(WCS) heavy crude versus the North American benchmark West Texas

Intermediate (WTI) tightened on Thursday:

* WCS for September delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled

at $15.05 a barrel below WTI, according to brokerage CalRock,

having started trading at $15.20 a barrel under the U.S.

benchmark.

* Canadian heavy crude prices have come under pressure in

recent weeks due to a number of factors including U.S. refinery

outages and weak pricing on the U.S. Gulf Coast, analysts said.

* Major oil producers Cenovus Energy ( CVE ) and Canadian

Natural Resources Ltd ( CNQ ) both said on Thursday earnings

calls the threat of wildfires impacting production in the oil

sands region is abating.

* About 19 Aframax ships loaded around 330,000 barrels of

crude oil per day in July at Canada's West Coast in the second

full month of operations on the newly expanded Trans Mountain

pipeline, slightly lower than June, vessel-tracking data showed.

* Global oil prices settled more than $1 lower as global

supply seemed largely unaffected by worries of a wider Middle

East crisis after the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran, and as

investors refocused on demand concerns.